Media

Over the Wall

Categories

Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire reports on her journey to Gaza 28 October ? 1 November 2008Hope as Palestinians use nonviolence in their struggle for human rights and freedom

On 28th October, 2008, the Free Gaza Movement set sail in SS Dignity from Larnaca, Cyprus, for Gaza. On board were 27 Internationals from 13 countries, Including Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, five physicians, human rights lawyers, etc., I felt deeply privileged to be part of this group going to Gaza.

On this, the second boat journey into Gaza the siege-breakers brought with them 6 cubic meters of medicine, and their hope that by going to Gaza across the sea (only the second boat to do so in over 41 years) they would give hope to the people of Gaza and that the outside world would break its silence to the tragedy of Gaza’s suffering and act to get the siege lifted.

Israeli and Spanish officials engaged in a flurry of secret talks last month to avoid a diplomatic crisis. The reason? A Palestinian nongovernmental organization, or NGO, filed suit in Madrid, seeking arrest warrants against seven former Israeli officers allegedly involved in the 2002 targeted killing of Hamas leader Salah Shehadah in Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry warned the men against travel to Spain for fear of arrest while Madrid tried to defuse the tensions.

David Klein

This lawsuit is just the latest front in the anti-Israel “lawfare” strategy — the frivolous exploitation of Western courts to harass Israeli officials. The detractors of the Jewish state are increasingly using civil lawsuits and criminal investigations around the world to tie Israel’s hands against Palestinian terror by accusing Jerusalem of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.” In the process, the NGOs also subvert and interfere with the diplomatic relations of Western countries with Israel.